League Two - Official Dressing Room

[AlfromSleep]

BESIKTAS CRUMBLE UNDER PRESSURE

1899 Hoffenheim 3 – 2 Besiktas

Hoffenheim took all three points in this tight League 2 encounter last night with a hard fought win over Besiktas.

The German side took the lead in the 6th minute when IBISEVIC broke free and slotted the ball neatly past Rustu. The remainder of the first half was very tense with barely a chance at either end.

The second half came to life on 57 minutes when BA gave Hoffenheim a 2 goal cushion, on the counter attack. TELLO pulled one back for the visitors on 64 minutes with a volley at the back post after a cross was flicked into his path. The Turks were pushing up for an equaliser when IBISEVIC got his second of the evening after breaking away from the halfway line with the Besiktas defence too high up the park.

Besiktas pulled one back with a corner right out of the training ground with Cisse knocking down a deep cross for BOBO to volley home with 12 minutes left.

Chances were few and far between after this, in a tense affair.

Scorers:

IBISEVIC 6, 72

TELLO 64

BA 57

BOBO 78

Besiktas 0 – 3 Hoffenheim

Hoffenheim clinched full points from Besiktas with a scoreline that doesn’t really reflect on the pattern on the match.

The Turkish visitors were getting a lot of crosses into the area but none of the resultant headers were getting on target. The home side punished them for not converting these chances with BA opening the scoring on 54 minutes and then doubled his tally 2 minutes later, both results from breaking through the sluggish defence.

Another couple of chances went the way of the visitors before the 73rd mniute Hoffenheim substitute, OBASI, make an instant impact with a goal a mere 2 minutes after coming onto the park.

Scorers:

BA 54, 56

OBASI 75

Cheers for the games mate, well played. I'm gutted to get nothing out of both games which were better performances than some wins I've had in the past!

I sense a relegation battle is looming and I deserve it after taking 2 points for a possible 18 since my last win. I'm really not enjoying 1v1 at the moment but I'm not gonna give in that easily!

[BeeJay]

It looks like the league is taking shape a bit now with a reasonably clear split between the playoff contenders and the relegation battlers. I'm sure there will be movement but it's starting to take shape.

[siread]

Cheers for the games, mate. I think it's fair to say that you shouldn't have picked Ajax, as you're a much better player than the table would suggest. A bit of luck and you'll hopefully be able to turn it around and avoid relegation.

Hehe, nice pic. Yeah, I've resigned myself to relegation but I'll keep fighting. CFTGs.

[BeeJay]

Oh my god, what some games tonight. Not at one point did I have time to breath. Once again my defence did me proud under relentless attack and my big guys up front managed to put their chances away.

Fenerbeejay 3 - 1 ASM FC

ASM FC 1 - 2 Fenerbeejay

Scorers:

Guiza 2

Alex 2

Senturk

Very well played ASM and good luck for the rest of the season. I have no doubt you'll be pushing me and Heretic all the way if you play like that from now on.

I'll write a proper report tomorrow but all I can say is:

Bring on the Heretic

[ASM]

Oh my god, what some games tonight. Not at one point did I have time to breath. Once again my defence did me proud under relentless attack and my big guys up front managed to put their chances away.

Fenerbeejay 3 - 1 ASM FC

ASM FC 1 - 2 Fenerbeejay

Scorers:

Guiza 2

Alex 2

Senturk

Very well played ASM and good luck for the rest of the season. I have no doubt you'll be pushing me and Heretic all the way if you play like that from now on.

I'll write a proper report tomorrow but all I can say is:

Bring on the Heretic

Best two games of the season so far. I really thought Sampdoria were in for a tonking tonight, instead the boys in blue went away dignity in tact, and a little disapointed not to have come away with at least a point out of the two matches.

The first was a real up hill battle, with Fenerbeejay scoring two goals in the first half. I pushed on on the 2nd half and managed to grab one back, but in going full on for the equaliser, I left my self exposed in defence, and Fenerbeejay got his third to put the game to bed.

The 2nd was a real cracker, end to end the whole way through. I had a excellent chance to level it and grab a vital point in the dying minutes of the match but the pressure got to the normally ice cool Cassano, but his strike went straight to Fenerbeejay's keeper.

Cheers for the games Fenerbeejay really enjoyed them both. Sorry I wasn't on the comms, but I was relegated to the upstaitrs telly tonight that is in the room next to my little boys bedroom, so I had to "keep it down". Good luck for the rest of the season.

[bradigor]

Getafe Go Goal Crazy

Yiggy 1-5 bradigor

bradigor 4-1 Yiggy

What to say, for the 1st time since he started in 1v1 management in the rllmukfootballleague. Getafe manager bradigor got some luck. Unfortunately it was at the expense of Olympique de Marseille manager Yiggy. The ball just seemed to work for Getafe as they flew out of the blocks to get two quick goals from Uche. It look briefly like it was going to be another victory thrown away when Marseille pulled one back. However Uche completed his hat-trick with a deflected header from a corner to make it 3-1 at half time. Getafe came out in the 2nd half and added 2 more from Uche and Soldado to complete the rout.

The 2nd match stated exactly where it left off, again with Getafe piling on all kinds of pressure and essentially camping in the Marseille half. It took 10 minutes for Uche to knock in the 1st and then instantly Soldado hit a 2nd. The 3rd goal midway through was the best of the night from the Spanish outfit. Marseille were able to get some possession in the Getafe final 3rd but the ball was won back in the centre by Diaz who put the ball right to Contra, Gavilan picked up the pass giving it straight to Casquero who fed Gavilan straight back down the left, Gavilan bursts into the box on the left hand side slides a ball across the 6 yard area cutting out 3 defenders and the goalkeeper to find Soldado there to slot home. The 4th summed up Yiggys night with a huge punt downfield missing everyone and falling to Uche with a clear run on goal to finish the scoring for Getafe. Yiggy was left frustrated and forced to change things in the 2nd half and to his credit he came out and still put up a fight and actually won the second half 1-0 thanks to a well crafted goal early in the half. It didn't quite spark things for him though and the game petered out with both excahanging possession for the next 35 minutes.

Really unlucky there matey, you just didn't get a bounce of the ball at all. Hope I didn't come across as arrogant or overly excited of anything, not had that luck before and usually I am on yourside of these things. So apologies if I did Cheers for the games and good luck for the rest of the season.

[BeeJay]

Fenerbeejay have toughest game yet but still come away with maximum points

Volkan Demirel after his last minute match winning save

Fenerbeejay 3 – 1 ASM FC

ASM FC 1 – 2 Fenerbeejay

Guiza 2

Alex 2

Senturk

Fenerbeejay will undoubtedly look back on last night’s second game with huge relief as they came away with 6 points from a fixture where they were under pressure all the way to the final seconds.

Things weren’t as tough for the league leaders in the home leg. ASM started well but as is typical of the Turk’s performances this season, the momentum swung back their way before half time. The first cam from Fenerbeejay’s first real chance. A right side corner was swung in by kazim kazim and the ball was met by Senturk. Quickly after Guiza broke free, drew the keeper and calmly laid the ball off to Alex who confidently beat a defender and struck the ball into an empty net from the edge of the area. 2 – 0 and things looked comfortable. ASM pushed on and started creating chances with a more attacking mentality. Fenerbeejay had plenty of chances to increase the lead with Alex hitting a shot from 5 yards directly at the keeper and Guiza hitting one wide as he broke through. ASM got a goal back as one of their strikers got half a yard on Lugano and broke free but ASM couldn’t find the equaliser. Finally Guiza killed the game with less than 10 minutes remaining.

The stats backed up Fenerbeejay’s dominance with 13 shots and 8 on target to the Italian’s 3. They could easily have been punished for their poor performance in front of goal.

The second game started with ASM flying out of the blocks. Fenerbeejay were holding on desperately in the early stages and creating little up front. It was only going to go one way and with the manager contemplating a tactical change ASM got their well deserved lead. A corner was swung in and Demirel came to meet a ball that he was never going to reach and the ASM striker coolly headed past the floundering keeper. The keeper would later make amends for his poor decision making. A change was desperately needed for Fenerbeejay so they switched to a more offensive style. Within minutes they had equalised through Guiza and then Alex scored the winning goal soon after. Overjoyed to be ahead they sat back on the lead.

This only seemed to fire ASM up who attacked and pressurised the Fenerbeejay defence again and again. In to the final minutes ASM had a great chance to rescue a deserved point but Demirel made a great save. By this point the Fenerbeejay defence were in disarray with the keeper unnecessarily knocking the ball out for an ASM corner. The ASM keeper came up from the back but the corner was poor and the ball cleared as the ref blew the final whistle.

Fenerbeejay manager Superstarbeejay was unavailable for comment following the match. Hopefully League Two news will catch up with him before their top of the table crunch match against Sporting Clube de Heretic next week.

Top scorers (running total):

Guiza 12

Senturk 10

Alex 5

Boral 3

Maldonaldo 1

Kazim Kazim 1

[BeeJay]

I've just checked and with my 13 wins in a row in the league I've made it to equal 5th on the all time winning streak list. Not confident of making it to 15 in a row though.

I think baring's 52 might be a little way off too.

[Yiggy]

Getafe Go Goal Crazy

Yiggy 1-5 bradigor

bradigor 4-1 Yiggy

SNIP.

What can I say? Good match report that. Very frustrating that I was not getting the rub of the green at all but in fairness you created a huge ammount more chances than me. Something like 33 shots to 8 in the first game so a lot of it was me getting frustrated and my head dropping down. By the 2nd half of the 2nd game I just wanted to crawl under a stone and die which was ammusingly enough when I actually started playing better. Typical. By that time though there was no colsoling me.

The first half of this season has been quite painful for me. This is my 3rd season in league two and the first two were purely survival affairs by the end. I had been practicing pre season quite a bit and thought I had gotten my team working well. I dont know if my tactics are just a bit broken, my luck is totally down or I am just not as enthused as I could be but I feel this season is going to be another survival struggle.

Still. Onwards and upwards. This has massively dented my playoff hopes but there are still 12 games left with which to get this Frenchies, and get myself working.

Good Luck for the rest of the season.

[AlfromSleep]

BESIKTAS BOSS UNDER PRESSURE

Al said: 'Crunch games against Hoffenheim tonight for my Besiktas outfit. We really need at least 4 points to keep up with the playoff pace setters of ASM and my opposition, Scratch. Slotter has 2 games in hand and others are lurking just below us,waiting to pounce'

Around a week on and it's still the same - Pressure, pressure, pressure! Make or break games with Razzle's Genoa tonight in a rematch from the top of last years Ryman League. Both teams are locked on 9 points, with 1 goal in it, something has to give!

8 games without a win, its becoming annoying!

[AlfromSleep]

Besiktas 3 – 0 Genoa

After an awful run with only 2 points from a possible 18, Besiktas got their season back on track with an excellent all round performace and all three points against their big rivals from last seasons Ryman League.

The game was very tight in the beginning with a few chances at both ends stopped by quality defending, in the Turks case, a last ditch tackle by Zapotchny prevented Milito from getting in on goal. It remained close until the 40th minute when a counter attack found HOLOSKO unmarked on the right to run in and slot home from just inside the box. 4 minutes later a DELGADO lobbed through ball found the Slovakian in space but this time he held it up before laying the ball back into the captains path and the Argentine gave Besiktas a 2 nil halftime lead.

The home side began the second half strongly and created a number of chances, hitting the woodwork on more than one occasion, one of which ran along the line and was cleared by the Italian defence.

With the match looking like finishing 2-0, HOLOSKO popped up for a header in injury time to double his tally for the evening.

Filip Holosko celebrates the opener

Genoa 2 – 2 Besiktas

The game started with Besiktas immediately creating a chance that was saved by the keeper and it remained very tight until MILITO found himself in space on 19 minutes to roll in the opener. The Turks hit the post shortly after the restart but levelled things on 23 minutes when TELLO found a yard of space on the edge of the box to fire a shot home and it remained this way until half time with these three chances being the only shots in a tense opening stanza.

The second half was also a tense affair but the deadlock was broken on 73 minutes when MILITO broke free and doubled his tally with a composed finish. The lead, as in the first half, was short lived as BOBO levelled things at 2 all.

The match looked like finishing level when Tello found a gap in the middle of the Genoa defence and after a scramble with players bouncing off each other, the whistle went........................PENALTY TO BESIKTAS! Holosko stepped up to take the spot kick (This being played under BAP mode, I forgot to change my kick takers back to Delgado)...................and his powerful shot beat the keeper but cannoned off the underside of the bar, to be cleared for a corner. With everyone pushed up for the set-piece, Delgado floated the ball in and a powerful header by Holosko flew just wide on the post. From the goal kick the visitors again found space with Holosko getting into the box only to be knocked to the ground by a powerful challenge by a defender but this time the man in black decided no foul had taken place.

Tello berates Holosko for spot kick miss

Cheers for the games Razzle, really enjoyed them and was good chatting to you, best of luck for the rest of the season.

That was the best I’ve played in weeks, both in defence and going forward, something finally went my way and should have got full points were it not for my slightly overpowerd spot kick that will probably come back to haunt me at the end of the season!!

Scorers:

Bobo - 8

Holosko - 5

Tello - 3

Delgado - 3

[Razzle]

Scores confirmed

I was soundly beaten in that first game. I couldn't get to grips with you at all and was left chasing shadows. I played better in the second but was still lucky not to get done by that penalty at the death.

Well played mate, CFTG and good luck with the rest of the season.

[AlfromSleep]

I think justice was done as it wasn't a tackle that caused the pen, just players falling over each other

[bradigor]

Don't know what happened in that 2nd match Al. I was making an sub as Gavilan got injured. You may as well take the victory 1-0 as you had just scored. Apologies.

Edit: Ta for the restart. Fuck me that was a tense ending. You played well and deserved the 6 points.

[ASM]

Pazzini runs the show!

ASM FC 1 bradigor Biscans 0

bradigor Biscans 1 ASM FC 2

Sampdoria get back to winning ways, after last weeks disappointment.

Really happy with how these two games played out, both were very close and very enjoyable. In the first I only grabbed the 3 points in the dying minutes, and it was tense to the final whistle.

The second was very close, with a lot of action in midfield. I got the vital goal midway through the first half, and held on to bag another 3 points. Bradigor came so close to getting the equaliser with the last kick of the ball, but luckily for me it flashed just wide of the post.

Cheers for the games bradigor, not sure what was up with my connection? It went again just after the final whistle.

[bradigor]

Both games could easily of been draws. In the 1st half of the 1st game I was creating all the chances but you had that one break on 45mins. It was even for the next 45 until you struck on 87mins.

In the second game though, I just couldn't get past you midfield, you left back too had some pace, which meant my get out ball in Contra was compromised. I finally found a way through in the last 15 but it just wasn't enough and flashing that shot wide in injury time reminded me of the 2005 European Cup Semi Final when Eidur Gudjohnsson flashed a shot wide on 96 mins.

Good games, a point a piece would of been deserved, but you just had that extra needed and dug deep enough. Next games for me are vital now and they are against the top man. Time to start scouting.

[BeeJay]

SuperstarBeeJay cautious ahead of top of the table clash

Speaking exclusively to League 2 news, Fenerbeejay manager, SuperstarBeeJay would not be drawn into comment on tonights big showdown against their main title contenders, Sporting clube de Heretic.

"They are a good side and have a hugely experienced manager. Our goal is still to secure promotion and getting a result against Heretic will help in that goal. We may be on 30 points right now but history shows that 50+ points are needed to ensure promotion. We still need to dig deep and focus on all 6 remaining fixtures. Nothing will be won or lost tonight."

SuperstarBeeJay may be playing it cool but if his top of the table side secure even 4 points tonight it will be looking like an uphill struggle for the Portuguese

side who look to have the tougher run in. The Fenerbeejay side have been unable to train over the past week due to their training ground being over-run with tanks, planes bombing the pitch and snipers.

"Yes, we haven't had much chance to train and maybe that will cost us tonight but we hope to get some time on the match pitch before the game."

Superstarbeejay's record is not good against the Portuguese side having lost both matches last season while managing Wolfsburg.

"Yes, I failed to take a point in my rookie season but we did have the lead in the first of those games and pre-season warm-up games and the international friendlies were much closer."

When pushed to give an opinion on the Heretic manager, Hereticboy, Superstarbeejay would not bite despite being asked if he thought the once dominating manager had lost his nerve this season.

"Hahahahahahaha, he is a talented and experienced manager and one I respect despite sporting's lack of polish this season."

The match is due to kick off tonight at 9 and the title race could look very different tomorrow morning.

[AlfromSleep]

Will have to watch you guys status to see how those games go!

[hereticboy]

Lack of polish? Pah!

I would, however, like to point out that I am suffering from a neck injury. Just in case it affects my performances .

[BeeJay]

Lack of polish? Pah!

Will that quote from Superstarbeejay be going up on the dressing room wall?

[hereticboy]

Nah. I don't need any gimmicks to get my lads playing.

[BeeJay]

Stop press: Honours even as Superstarbeejay ends Hereticboy's 36 match unbeaten run

Full report to follow tomorrow.

[hereticboy]

Fucking fuck.

Match report coming soon.

[BeeJay]

great summary of our differing emotions there

[OneDvBmbr]

Guys, so sorry I've been MIA lately, but can't wait to hear about tonight's top of the table clash!

[BeeJay]

Guys, so sorry I've been MIA lately, but can't wait to hear about tonight's top of the table clash!

Epic, that's all you need to know for now.

[OneDvBmbr]

I never did get round to writing up my last couple of fixtures with my hectic last couple of weeks, but here's what I can remember...

Ashton & Bradigor Make Peace

West Ham 3-0 Getafe

Getafe 3-2 West Ham

Honours even at the end of day when West Ham took on Getafe. Getafe however will feel mightily aggrieved in the 1st game after hammering at the door for 80 minutes. Somehow though West Ham took the lead through last season's top scorer Carlton Cole after the Getafe keeper decided to leave an easy ball well alone. The defence was again at fault for the second and the keeper let a quickfire 3rd somehow go through his chest.

The Second match looked to be favouring the West Ham players as the Getafe defenders ran in to each other letting Ashton through to lob the keeper. This only sought to make Getafe angry as they piled on the pressure to take a 2-1 lead into half time. They extended this lead on 75 minutes and looked to have the game sewn up. Getafe being Getafe decided to make things difficult and let Mark Noble in to make the final 5 minutes a tense affair. This saw the Gatafe manager booked for foul language.

What was heartwarming to see though was The former West Ham manager and striker Dean Ashton put aside their differences at the end of the games.

bradigor & Ashton moments before embracing

I think a win a piece was probably a fair outcome, as it felt like we were pretty evenly matched. Although I won the first game by 3, as bradigor explained it flattered me greatly as I was under pressure for the majority of the game. West Ham's AMAZING strikers were the difference though in that first game...

Wonder goal from Chilean midfielder sets tone for West Bamber’s night(mare)

Maldonado talking to press after only his 7th career goal and certainly his best

Fenerbeejay 4 – 0 West Bamber

West Bamber 1 – 4 Fenerbeejay

Guiza 3

Senturk 3

Alex

Maldonado

Claudio Andrés del Tránsito Maldonado Rivera scored what many would consider to be the goal of the season in a freak event which set Fenerbeejay on their way to 6 points against league strugglers West Bamber.

Speaking to press after the match Claudio claimed that it was intentional but most have their doubts including the Fenerbeejay fans

“you don’t really expect to shoot from 2 yards inside your opposition’s half and score with it, I’m certain it was a mistake as he was moving in to make a challenge and the ball flew off his boot.”

Regardless of the defensive midfielder’s intention it sent Fenerbeejay on their way back to the top of the table by 2 clear points.

It would be easy to say that Fenerbeejay dominated in both games and deserved the points but the reality is that they were under constant pressure from the strength of the West Bamber attack and it was a miracle that they held on until the 165th minute of the tie when Ashton eventually capitalised on one of his many opportunities. West Bamber consistently won the ball in midfield especially the high ball.

The goals in the first game came from all over the pitch after Maldonado’s wonder goal followed with a header from Guiza from a left wing cross and good finishes from Alex and Senturk.

West Bamber would have been hopeful going into the second match after bossing most of the play without being able to take any chances. The hope was dashed very early on as Guiza broke free of the defence and clamly slotted home. Within minutes the game was won with another headed goal from the classy striker. Senturk made it 3 but West Bamber showed signs of recovery to make it 3 – 1 until the Turkish international put the game to bed quickly after.

Again, the difference between the sides was the finishing but Fenerbeejay should have scored more with a couple of good chances and a header from 6 foot which inexplicably went wide.

Superstarbeejay will be happy with the 6 points but once again will come away feeling like it could easily have gone the other way.

“I think we have had a superb start but we are in a slightly false position at the moment with some huge fixtures coming up. Come back to me in 3 weeks time and if we are still top of the table then maybe then we can start talking about promotion hopes.”

As for the London side, they will continue to look down the table and wonder what might have been had their strikers performed.

I still haven't got over this. The first of these two games was, as Kammy might say, unbelievable. I was robbed, blatantly. Given I've struggled with West Ham, I genuinely felt I'd more than matched beejay over the two games and how I came away with 0 points and a 7 goal deficit is beyond me. Thems the breaks though, and when you're top of the league you seem to get all the luck! West Ham's strikers NEEDED PUTTING DOWN after these games...

[hereticboy]

Basically Beejay was outplayed for 4/5ths of our games and still came away with three points.

[OneDvBmbr]

Basically Beejay was outplayed for 4/5ths of our games and still came away with three points.

Join the club!

[OneDvBmbr]

Just looking at the table and the remaining fixtures, I'd say the league is beejay's to throw away. He's played most of the top teams whereas heretic has still got many of them to play.

Looks like my pre-season prediction for the league winner is shaping up to be more accurate than Kammy's!